Zika Virus: IOC Says Rio Will Be ‘Safe Environment’ For 2016 Olympics

The Associated Press reports Thomas Bach, the IOC President, as being in “close contact” with Brazilian authorities and the WHO (World Health Organization), with travel to Brazil expected to spike in the run-up to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the summer.

Speaking Thursday, Paes said the mosquito-borne Zika virus was unlikely to affect the Rio Olympics. The WHO is meeting on Monday to discuss whether to declare the outbreak an worldwide emergency.

This story was first published on CNN.com, “Rio 2016: Olympics organizers reveal plans to combat Zika threat”.

“Sean Gaine, our chief medical officer, is working closely with the relevant parties on behalf of Team Ireland”.

Late a year ago the Rio 2016 organizing committee said it would slash spending by 500 million U.S. dollars to maintain its 1.9 billion-dollar operating budget.

The United States National Institutes of Health claim to have two potential Zika vaccines in development, one of which is based on an experimental West Nile vaccine that could be repurposed.

“We would hope that given how serious this is, women would just say I am not going to risk it and they wouldn’t go”. He said officials were also seeking to work on the “psychological aspect” of athletes being fearful about getting Zika by guaranteeing a supply of mosquito repellent and by keeping teams from every nation informed about the virus.

Zika is believed to cause birth defects in pregnant women.

Agents for multiple prospective Canadian athletes met a Wednesday deadline to file a waiver requesting permission to push forward with a Rio ad campaign with a non-Olympic sponsor, COC spokeswoman Cherry Ye wrote in an email.

Sylvain Aldighieri, head of WHO’s epidemic response team in the Americas, said the estimate is based on previous numbers of infections of dengue fever, which is also carried by mosquitoes.

“Pregnant women, whether they are officials or athletes, they have to consider their welfare and we would not be pressuring anyone to go to the Games”.

In years past, that would put Kyle and her marketing team in a fix because non-Olympic sponsors such as Under Armour have not been allowed to promote their ties to Olympic athletes during the Games.

Even so, Brazilian virologists contend that mosquitoes can still easily transmit viruses in Rio and other tropical cities year-round, pointing out that Zika may have begun spreading in Brazil during its winter in 2014.

The International Olympic Committee announced that in order to ensure safety, sporting venues would be inspected to ensure puddles of stagnant water – where mosquitos breed – are removed, minimizing the risk of athletes and visitors coming into contact with the insects.